The Executive Administrator of National Energy Networks (REN), João Faria Conceição, explained on Tuesday that Portugal has stopped the commercial exchange of electricity with Spain “by precaution”, after the mass blackout that affected the Iberian Peninsula and south of France on the eve. Although physical interconnections between the two countries are still operational, there is currently no energy flow for commercial purposes.
Shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Monday, Ren managed to restore the connection to all his infrastructure. The operator of the distribution network completed the latest reconnections in consumption points already on Tuesday, first thing in the morning. “We are converging towards a normality situation, but the part of the distribution takes a little longer,” said Conceição in statements to CNN Portugal.
According to the REN head, the company still needs to guarantee the complete stabilization of the system before resuming the usual functioning of wholesale markets. “From there, we can say that the system returned, both in technical and economic terms, to a total normality operation,” he explained.
Ren hopes to reach that final stabilization this same midnight. Until then, the system is managed separately, a decision made in coordination with the Portuguese government, the General Directorate of Energy and the Spanish homologous authorities. “It is a matter of prudence,” said Conceição, who has now ruled out an immediate return to the joint operation between the two countries.
The administrator has considered “plausible” that an excess of renewable energy has contributed to the blackout, although it does not attribute it exclusively to that cause. He has also valued that, according to Spanish authorities, any cyber attack has been ruled out. “Now we have to focus exactly what happened,” he said. He has insisted that renewables are a “safe” source, but whose volatility must be “accommodated” to avoid imbalances.
On Monday, the blackout left millions of people without electricity supply. Conceição has described it as “absolutely extraordinary” and recalled that “zero risk does not exist.” Even so, this Tuesday, schools, hospitals, means of transport and water supply have worked “practically at full performance,” according to the Portuguese executive.
The blackout enters campaign
The light cut has been fully sneaking into the electoral campaign. Less than three weeks after the May 18 elections, the acting government, led by the conservative Luís Montenegro, has defended the institutional reaction and has held the “rapid and effective” action of civil protection. “There is always space to perfect procedures,” said the Executive after an extraordinary council of ministers.
Montenegro has explained to the media that the essential services of the country work normally and has announced that Portugal will ask the European Union an independent commission that audits electrical systems. Another technical commission will also be created to review the national reaction mechanisms. On the other hand, the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, has supported the management of the blackout and has assured that “no one left to contact or help.”
Government’s valuations have not convinced the opposition. The general secretary of the Socialist Party, Pedro Nuno Santos, has denounced that there was also “a blackout in the central government” and has accused the Montenegro cabinet of lack of leadership. “For hours, millions of people were left without access to reliable information,” he criticized before the press.
Chega, liberal initiative, Livre, Bloco de Esquerda, PAN and the Communist Party have also charged against management. The deputy of Chega Rita Matias has labeled “unfortunate” that 24 hours later the origin of the blackout is not yet known. Mariana Leitão, of a liberal initiative, has missed a “regular” and “one voice” communication by the Executive.
In parallel, the spokesman of the Leaders Conference of the Assembly of the Republic, Jorge Paulo Oliveira, has confirmed that Parliament will celebrate an emergency debate on the management of the crisis on Wednesday.
